A Little Less Than Ten Years
by UnderdogHero
Summary: Kuni wonders about the boy following him, and the questions just pile up. -One-shot-


A/N: To be honest I had this planned for a long time, but it only really stuck in my mind recently because I finally decided to actually _play_ my copy of Okamiden rather than watch the LPs. Though I refuse to play without the aid of a video.

... Well, it was either this or getting a head start on my next fic, and there's no good in doing something like _that_.

I think it's pretty obvious how this fic is gonna go, but humor me for a bit.

Also, I'm writing this under the assumption that Kuni was at least ten years old during Okamiden, since they never mentioned his age. If they did, I didn't see it, and it's not like it changes the story much.

**.**

It was a year and a half after he'd started his journey that Kuni met him.

Not that he knew who he _was_, but they still met.

He - at least, Kuni was assuming it was a he - was taller, just a little more than Kuni himself, even moreso with the pair of tall red geta he wore. His clothes consisted of a short white kimono with a grey floral pattern, and knee-length white shorts. His socks, which reached just below his knees, were also white. He looked to be about sixteen, as opposed to Kuni's twelve.

And covering his face was a long, crow-like mask, and a long, torn white cape attached, the ends of which were red.

So much white. Almost like a ghost.

Of course, Kuni hardly took this into account as he drew his sword, demanding to know who the strange boy was.

He didn't get an answer, instead a slight tilt of the mask and what sounded like a chuckle.

Kuni decided he didn't like this kid.

**.**

Three weeks later, he came to two conclusions.

The masked boy was - indeed - a boy, and he was being followed.

He came the the first conclusion when he realized the first.

"What are you?"

He'd simply asked one night, staring up at the boy as he lay back on the grass. The masked boy was seated on a tree branch, and Kuni had picked his position hoping to catch a glimpse of the other's face, but it seemed to be in vain as the mask seemed glued to him.

The answer to his question was a tilt of the head, to the side.

"I mean, are you a boy? Or a girl?"

This time he was the one being stared at, though he supposed his companion - he was reluctant to refer to the masked boy as such, but he'd been saved by a few bandits by a well timed knife a few times - was considering whether or not to answer his question.

This answer came in the form of a single, raised finger. Kuni had to think for a moment before he realized what he was saying.

"A boy huh..."

**.**

Four months later, and was a little less distance between them.

Kuni only knew this because the first time he realized he was being followed - the realization had unnerved him greatly - he'd noticed the distance kept between them was enough just so that they were within each other's view.

Now, it was roughly three meters.

Kuni frowned, turning his head to look over his shoulder.

"Why don't you ever say anything?"

Their method of communication had been limited to gestures and occasionally writing, though it was more often the former. He'd come to understand what the other boy was trying to tell him eventually, but he still didn't know why he was being followed.

The response to his question was, like the other times he'd asked, a downward tilt of the mask that covered the boy's face.

Somehow, it didn't feel like the distance between them was any different.

...

The first time he'd heard him speak, after a rather brutal fight against some rougues, it was barely a sentence, but it was enough to tell him a lot about the boy.

"You try too hard."

He looked up from his bandaged arm to the boy sitting above him, eyebrows raised at the disapproving tone. He didn't think much about it, as he was sure no human being could go as long as he had without speaking.

"They were going to kill that girl." He said, returning his attention to the task at hand - which was his hand. "I hope you're not telling me that I should have left her to die by those rougue's hands."

Instead of silence, he was surprised when there was a rustling from above, then a white mask in front of him.

"You're doing a shoddy job." He sounded annoyed now, grabbing the almost empty roll of bandages and Kuni's own arm. Though he was gentle about it, despite his tone.

Kuni simply smirked, a feeling of achievement welling up inside him.

**.**

After a year, he'd dubbed the boy "Bird Mask", because he decided that always asking for a name he'd never know was simply a waste of time.

Apparently, his companion thought the name was funny, because later that day he found the boy shaking with silent laughter. He hadn't been too insulted, since he was technicaly laughing at himself, but it was annoying regardless.

The distance, however, had remained at three meters, at least while they were traveling. At night, he'd find "Bird Mask" either asleep - he assumed - in a tree, or stairing at the moon from a high branch. On the rare occasion that a tree was absent - as they had the tendency to travel through forested areas - he'd take his place atop a hill or large rock. Anywhere but the ground, and there were times he disappeared for the whole night in search of a place to his liking.

He was always there when Kuni awoke though

...

Kuni found it funny how afraid of water the "Bird Mask" seemed to be.

He'd learned this during a treck through the mountains heading to Kamui, which were dotted with many large ponds of water due to the recent rainstorm. He recalled the boy also being rather jumpy during those, though he never bothered questioning why.

So when the ledge above a rather sizeable body of water collapsed, he decided to stop the other's obvious laughter with a splash of water which, miraculously, hit.

It was his turn to laugh as the boy jumped, flailing about in an attempt to get rid of the water.

**.**

Three years, and they'd gone from three meters to three feet.

It was that year, their fourth since meeting, that Kuni had decided to pay a visit to Sei'an City, as per Kagu's request via letter.

And by letter, he meant talisman that flew into his face and stuck until he assured the inanimate object that he would not discard it.

The "letter" had mentioned the re-completion of Gen's time machine, and requested him to be present when they opened a gate and reunited with Manpuku - who they'd been communicating with through letters trasferred with some of Gen's prototype machines. Although his machine had been completed in the time he'd known Amaterasu, the old man had decided to upgrade it enough so that they could travel freely with no restrictions and no impact on history.

Not that they were trying to change anything. Not this time, at least.

The journey had taken a few days, but he'd been told that they would wait for his arrival, and that he shouldn't take that as a suggestion to take his time.

Especially since Nanami just lived - quite literaly - on the coast, he was sure Kagu would mock him for being the last to arrive.

He wondered how his friends would respond to his new companion.

...

"You're late."

Kagu was tapping her foot, glaring at him, but he knew she wasn't really mad. If anything, she was just annoyed that it had taken him three days to arrive at Gen's tower.

"I was all the way in Kamui when I got your talisman." He said, holding out the strip of paper that he refused to consider a letter. "Which was very rude, by the way."

Kagu just rolled her eyes, and Nanami giggled. The girl had long ago gained the ability to walk on land like the rest of her people, meaning it wasn't necessary to carry her all the way to the observatory. They couldn't alway call Chibiterasu down from the Celestial Plane, after all.

Speaking of the dog, it seemed that Issun had managed to deliver the message along to him. The young God was curled up in a corner, much like he used to do when he was still a puppy - he'd gown to be as big as his mother in the short time they were separated, most likely due to Issun's work as a Celestial Enoy being a success.

Soon, there would just be one person missing from their group, and the thought made his heart clench.

**.**

Another year, and Kuni was beginning to wonder if he should start keeping track of how long, _exactly_, it's been since he traveled with someone for so long.

Certainly not since that grand journey all those years ago.

Chibiterasu had reacted oddly when he'd seen the masked boy. Whether it was out of pity at the fact that he was another victim of Kuni's terrible nicknaming or something else, he didn't know.

The Sun God had simply given him a low bark, as if acknowledging his being there. The other three didn't seem to have anything to say about it, so he supposed it was just something only the dog could feel, but it stuck in his mind regardless.

He'd noticed it a while ago, too, how his companion looked exactly like he did when they first met.

By now Kuni was at least a head and a half taller, even with the red geta increasing the boy's height. He vaguely wondered if his partner all these years was a God, much like his partner from long ago, but he quickly dismissed the thought.

If only because it brought up unsettling implications.

**.**

Seven and a half years ago, he'd watched someone die.

Seven and a half years ago, at the age of ten, he'd been the one to thrust his sword through the body of his friend.

He relived that memory for seven and a half years until it felt like it was happening again.

.

He didn't expect for there to be bandits.

Nor did he expect for his companion to not only take part in the battle - whereas until then he'd simply stood back and watched, assisting whenever necessary.

The boy was a better fighter than he thought, as he'd never seen him in action before other tha throwing knives and occasionally dodging blows. He moved like he thought he would though, with all the grace and finesse of the bird he so looked like.

Which is why it came as a surprise when said bird shoved him out of the path of a wooden club, the weapong striking him in the side of the head, thin body crashing to the ground.

There was a crack as the bottom half of his mask flew off, the top half barely hanging on by the threads of the long cape attached, and Kuni felt something inside him twist in an ugly knot.

Barely a minute later, the bandits were downed and far behind him as he dragged his fallen comrade to the nearest town, not bothering to placate his curiosity and peek under the shattered mask.

He'd seen it, in the split second it had happened, the strands of blond hair.

He knew his suspicions were confirmed. Now he just needed to hope against hope that he'd get a chance to have eight years, four months, and two weeks worth of questions answered.

"Dammit, don't die on me _again_!"

**.**

When blue eyes opened three days later, Kuni couldn't help the sigh of relief that escaped him.

There was confusion, then shock, then exasperation.

"Looks like the cat's out of the bag, huh Cooney?" Kuni just frowned.

"Don't say my name like that." He said, grabbing the someting from the table beside him. "I speak to you again for the first time in almost ten years and that's the first thing you say?"

He wouldn't admit to being relieved at the small laugh that came from his friend's - yes, now that he's confirmed it, he was sure they were friends - mouth.

"Gotta be myself, right?" He said with a grin, then winced. "Aw man, in the head? That must have been, like, really lame, getting hit like that." He didn't move as Kuni removed the bandages, or when a damp towel was pressed to the wound, blood staining the white material. "Where are we anyway?"

"An inn along the northern part of Ryoshima Coast." Kuni said, reaching for the roll of bandages next to a small bucket of water, using his other hand to lift the blonde's head. "The owner freaked out when he saw you, but he gave us a room and bandages... we've been here about three days, by the way."

There was a hum from the smaller boy as he finished wrapping the bandages, allowing the younger male to rest his head back onto the pillow. There was a short silence, in which both were trying to think of something to say, but in the end it was Kuni who spoke first.

"Kurow."

Blue eyes turned their gaze away from the ceiling, said boy giving Kuni his full attention.

"Why didn't you say anything."

It wasn't exactly a quesion, but his tone wasn't demanding either. It was something Kurow knew he didn't have to answer, but it wasn't like he had one anyway.

"... I don't know, dude." He sighed, turning his head slightly to look out the window. "It's just been... confusing. I remember being stabbed by your sword and dying, then I'm waking up on the Celestial Plane with somene who looks like me saying "Welcome back". Like, how are you supposed to respond to that?"

Kuni didn't say anything, just letting him talk.

"Apparently it'd been half a year since I died, and that guy - Waka, though he kept trying to get me to call him "Dad". Creepy, right? Anyway, he told me that even though I was a doll, apparently I formed a soul and although my body died, as long as he built a new one for me I could live again."

He paused, sorting through the events in his mind, before letting out a breath.

"He kept me up there for another year, to get me used to my new body." Ge lifted his left arm, bringing his hand close to his face, opening and closing his fist. "It was weird, being twice as big as I remember. Awkward too, since Waka looked so much like me."

"Did _he_ know you were alive?" Kuni cut in, sure that Kurow knew who he was talking about. When Kurow let out a small laugh, he knew he was right.

"Kinda. I think he just thought I was another doll for a while, but when he saw me two years ago I guess he figured it out." He said. "You know what he said to me? He said, "It's about time" like he knew I'm the one late to the show."

"You kinda were." Kuni huffed. "So I guess after that you came down and started following me?" Kurow shrugged.

"Pretty much." He smiled, lifting himself into a sitting position and looking back out the window. Blonde hair fell over his shoulders, as Kuni had done him the favor of untying his hair for him. "Dunno why I picked you though, but for some reason I kept thinking about it. Guess it was because you kinda, you know, _killed_ me." While Kuni winced at this part, Kurow laughed. "Don't look so glum, I came back didn't I?"

"Yeah..." Kuni said slowly, then grinned and crossed his arms. "But you know, this doesn't settle everything yet." Kurow raised an eyebrow.

"What else is tere to say?" He asked, furrowing his eyebrows. Kuni's grin grew.

"Oh, I've still got a little less than ten years worth of questions left."

**.**

A/N: Dunno if I like how the last part of this went, but it's late and I have a shitload of stuff to cook tomorrow for class. Maybe I'll clean it up later. Maybe.

For anyone that's confused, lemme lay out a timeline or sorts: Kuni ran into Kuro when he was twelve, and spent six years traveling with him. He adds the extra two years from before they met, making eight years, along with the rest of the time(months, weeks, days) that piled up during their journey.

I still wanna do the multi-chapter I have planned for this series, but I think I'll start it once I finish all my CFV stuff first, so that there's nothing in the way of either one. Until then, here's my first entry into the Okamiden fandom.


End file.
